Long overdue … Consider this the non-BYU/WCC/WAC/MWC version. For thoughts on those developments, go here.

Action: USC athletic director Pat Haden tells the OC Register that he doesn’t have “any plans to advance the ball” but that “you have to consider every alternative.”Reaction I: Let’s not overreact here. The Trojans aren’t going all BYU, at least not anytime in the near future. But they probably have the profile and the fan base to pursue independence down the road if economic conditions force their hand. (And that’s what it would be about, of course.)Reaction II: The way media rights deals are going — specifically, the option for a school to have its own contract and/or network — it’s not tough to imagine a handful of teams declaring their independence over the next decade or so. Texas is the obvious one, but USC, Michigan, Ohio State and one of the SEC powers could all end up in an Independent “conference” with Notre Dame, the academies and BYU.

Reaction III: Here’s what I can absolutely envision: The Pac-10’s going to sign a new media deal next winter. Whenever that expires, nobody should be surprised if USC pushes for a change in the league’s bowl/TV revenue distribution policy (currently, everyone’s essentially equal) that allows the Trojans to take a greater share of the pie — something along the lines of what Texas has from the Big 12.Reaction IV: At that point, the conference will have a difficult decision to make. Once you take the reigns off your big dog, good luck keeping it under control. It just wants more, more, more.Reaction V: Of course, that’s only an option for the Trojans if they continue to win big over the course of the next media contract cycle. If they return to pre-Carroll mediocrity — either because of the long-term impact of NCAA sanctions of because Lane Kiffin (or his successor) can’t get it done — they won’t have the leverage to make it work.

Action: Big Ten announces divisions, separates Michigan and Ohio State but keeps the rivalry at the end of the season.Reaction I: The yet-to-be-named divisions appear to have achieved the balance commissioner Jim Delany sought, although it’s impossible to know whether that will be true five or 10 years down the road.Reaction II: Anyone who enjoys or respects the Michigan Ohio State rivalry — for my money the greatest in college sports, with only Alabama-Auburn football and Duke-UNC basketball coming close — has to be relieved that it will keep its slot at the end of the season … for two more years. D’oh!Reaction III: According to Delany, the entire schedule will be re-evaluated after the 2012 season, which tells me Michigan-Ohio State could ultimately get moved. My opinion: There was no way they could move a game of that magnitude this close to the 2011 and ’12 seasons.Reaction IV: Meanwhile, the Pac-10 remains weeks away from finalizing its division slpit. Why the holdup? Because the situation is far more complicated in the Pac-10 than the Big Ten, which doesn’t have five sets of natural rivals bound together like those in the Pac-10. Nor is there a dominant recruiting base in the Big Ten that compares to Southern California.Reaction V: It will be interesting to see if the Pac-10 adopts some version of the “protected” crossover games being used by the Big Ten (for instance: longtime rivals Wisconsin and Minnesota are in different divisions but guaranteed to play every year). That approach would seem to be a no-brainer if the Pac-10 goes with the Zipper or the California Zipper — to protect the natural rivals — and it may even be deployed if the league splits North-South.

Action: Another day, another UCLA starting lineman is down and out. (If you’re scoring at home: right tackle Mike Harris has been suspended for the opener, center Kai Maiava is out with a broken ankle, guard/tackle Jeff Baca is ineligible for the season and defensive end Datone Jones has a broken foot.)Reaction I: The chances of UCLA, picked eighth in the Pac-10 preseason poll, producing an upside surprise have dwindled significantly. But you won’t hear any complaints from Cal’s Jeff Tedford and ASU’s Dennis Erickson, whose teams were picked to finish just above and just below UCLA, respectively. One team’s depleted line, after all, is every other team’s gain.Reaction II: The UCLA injury list above doesn’t even include starting quarterback Kevin Prince, whose strained oblique muscle could keep him out of the opener at Kansas State.Reaction III: One team that stands to benefit immediately from Prince’s injury is Stanford, which visits UCLA in Week Two — and may very well be facing a rusty quarterback.

Action: Former UCLA Chancellor Charles Young urges Pac-10 presidents and chancellors to vote against Utah and Colorado joining the league.Reaction I: The teeny-tiny flaw in Young’s plan: The CEOs have already voted to invite Utah and Colorado. It’s a done deal, Chuck. Onward and upward.Reaction II: We’re hearing that Young, who ran the Westwood campus from 1968-97, is also pushing for typewriters to replace computers throughout the UC system.

Action: Stanford small forward Andy Brown to miss 2010-11 season after tearing his ACL for the third time in less than two years.Reaction: You have to feel awful for Brown, whose career might be over. But the injury doesn’t leave Stanford nearly as vulnerable as last October’s ACL injury did. Even without Brown, the Cardinal will have 11 recruited scholarship players.